Shepherd swaggered his way up the political ladder

But the West Banker's meteoric rise created enemies as well as allies.

With camera lenses in his face, state Sen. Derrick Shepherd stared down last week's airing of evidence that he laundered a bond broker's checks with the same swagger on which he built his steep ascent in Louisiana politics.

During a news conference Wednesday morning, he confidently dismissed the allegations and pointed the finger elsewhere, calling the inquiry intimidation for his refusal to give FBI agents dirt on other elected officials.

The scene captured the fiery image Shepherd has built in his brief time in the public eye.

Legislators on the opposite side of battles from him describe it as an impudent style that alienates others. Those allied with him sum up the same qualities with a different spin: confident, determined and gutsy.

"It's not unlike Derrick to express himself in such a way as to probably alienate others or at least express himself in such a way as to cause others concern," said Tim Coulon, the former Jefferson Parish president who now serves as chairman of the Superdome Commission.

Coulon nevertheless praised Shepherd's representation of his district and cautioned that the observation wasn't a comment on the facts of either the government's case or Shepherd's rebuttal.

The revelation last week that federal prosecutors appear to be targeting the Democrat capped off months of chatter in political circles that Shepherd had drawn the attention of the U.S. attorney's office.

Shepherd, 37, of Marrero has not been charged with a crime and denies a federal agent's assertion in open court last week that he helped a twice-convicted bond broker launder $141,000 in checks, keeping $65,000 for himself. Gwendolyn Joseph Moyo was indicted Thursday on 15 federal charges for her part in allegedly selling insurance policies without a license.

Support brought demands

Shepherd's political ascent has been meteoric: from unknown lawyer to state representative to state senator, in the span of four years. He was re-elected to his Senate seat by a wide margin last weekend.

A military man and self-employed lawyer, Shepherd made his first bid for office in 2003, when Rep. Kyle Green, D-Marrero, announced he would give up his 87th House District seat to run for the Jefferson Parish Council. Shepherd had briefly worked as a young lawyer for Green, who did not support Shepherd's bid for his old post. He could not be reached for comment.

The race pitted the unknown Shepherd against Donald Jones, a well-known, 12-year member of the Jefferson Parish Council. Shepherd went door-to-door to beat the established politician with 60 percent of the vote.

Lawmakers drew a quick impression of the newcomer to the Capitol.

Shepherd knew what he wanted for his district and fought doggedly for it, current and former legislators said. But he was viewed by some colleagues as heavy-handed, demanding too much in return for his support. Others said his pledge to vote one way could waiver several times, depending on outside forces.

Two pieces of legislation Shepherd introduced during his freshman session in 2004 generated considerable attention: a well-received bill to make the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday an official state holiday and a proposal to criminalize baggy pants. The King bill passed without controversy, while the fashion restriction failed after being roundly mocked.

The same year, Shepherd's name turned up as one of two consultants to attorneys for West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, after the hospital, following a new law by the Parish Council, disclosed the names of its subcontractors. Shepherd said he didn't know he was listed on the roster, though a hospital lawyer disputed that, saying the legislator had requested a piece of the work.

The state Board of Ethics eventually ruled that as a representative, Shepherd could do legal work for a local government, though not the state, as long as he reported all fees greater than $250. In the end, Shepherd didn't pursue work with the public hospital.

Money leads to dispute

His political career not two years old, Shepherd jumped at the chance in April 2005 to run for the 3rd Senate District to fill the unexpired term of Lambert Boissiere, who stepped down to become a constable.

Shepherd's timing was perfect.

What appeared to be a long shot for a Marrero name in a district dominated by New Orleans candidates became attainable when Shepherd's operatives narrowed the field with a successful challenge of financial consultant Shawn Barney's residency. In the end, he beat five other candidates to take the seat.

"It says something not only about his tenacity in terms of campaigning, but he was able to put together the right coalition to get himself elected," said Jefferson Parish Councilman Byron Lee, Shepherd's cousin and fraternity brother.

Shepherd returned to Baton Rouge and resumed his old fights, including a spat with the Jefferson Parish Council over local discretionary money.

The dispute began in 2004, when parish officials accused Shepherd of trying to usurp local control of West Bank riverboat tax revenue. The council had just enacted a reform to spell out how it would spend the money, basing the spending on local priorities rather than council members' pet projects. Shepherd wanted a portion for a YMCA in Harvey, but his first legislation attempting to snag the cash named as the recipient of the $200,000 a corporation not even registered with the state.

Shepherd kept up his demand but switched the recipient to the New Orleans chapter of the YMCA.

"Now everything is legit and aboveboard," he said in 2006. "It's going to a YMCA, a legitimate organization to help people."

The council told Shepherd to find money in the state budget instead of tapping local revenue that council members wanted to spend on hurricane-protection projects.

The row spawned over-the-top rhetoric from both sides, with Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts adopting the most strident tone.

"He's so damn hardheaded that he's not willing to admit that," Roberts said in April 2006 as he tried to lobby legislators to vote against Shepherd's latest crack at the money. "He's like a bulldog in a china cabinet trying to prove that he can get this thing passed."

They eventually resolved the dispute this year, but not until after Shepherd derailed legislation the parish needed to start building a new emergency operations center. Roberts said he and Shepherd patched things up after the senator sponsored the needed legislation.

Jefferson endorsement

News of a federal probe into U.S. Rep. William Jefferson threw last year's 1st Congressional District election wide open to upstarts hoping to knock down the 15-year incumbent as he stared down an expected indictment.

Shepherd emerged as the only Jefferson Parish candidate who had a shot at wresting control of the district from New Orleans, attempting to repeat his state Senate coup a year earlier.

"I think Derrick is one of the up-and-coming tenacious campaigners of his time," New Orleans Dock Board member Bernard Charbonnet said before Shepherd formally announced his campaign. "He will be a formidable candidate, whatever he runs for."

The federal probe into the New Orleans Democrat's business dealings in Africa hung over the campaign, and Shepherd used it, just as other candidates did, to cast suspicion on the incumbent.

The line of argument even spurred Jefferson to threaten during a candidate forum to expose an alleged ethical breach in Shepherd's past. Shepherd stormed back that the incumbent should offer whatever dirt he insinuated.

"Whatever you think you need to dig up, go for it," Shepherd said.

"Are you sure you want me to do this?" Jefferson replied, before vaguely questioning if Shepherd had ever provided legal services to a couple whose name no one at the forum could understand.

The situation was finally defused by a one-liner from another candidate, state Rep. Karen Carter.

Shepherd was buoyed in the congressional race by unified support from Jefferson Parish political heavyweights, but that ultimately wasn't enough to push him into the runoff. He finished with 18 percent of the vote, behind Jefferson's 30 percent and Carter's 21 percent. Jefferson went on to beat Carter in the runoff.

After calling out Jefferson for ethical lapses in the primary campaign, Shepherd endorsed the incumbent in November and brushed off the preceding tension as campaigning bravado.

Federal investigators would later question Shepherd regarding his about-face with Jefferson.

"They asked if I had received anything," Shepherd said during last week's news conference. "My response was, 'Hell no.'¤"

During Moyo's hearing last week, testimony indicated she tried to find several lawyers, including Jefferson's daughter, state Rep. Jalila Jefferson-Bullock, D-New Orleans, before hiring Shepherd. Two weeks after Shepherd endorsed the congressman, Moyo hired Shepherd and later gave him $141,000 from her company that he deposited into his firm's accounts.

Residency raises questions

While Shepherd stirred up relatively less controversy in his third year in the Senate, he once again became embroiled in local politics and attempted to use his legislative writing power to get his way.

The Kenner Housing Authority voided his legal contract that once paid him $250 an hour, an amount the Department of Housing and Urban Development called "excessive."

He took the squabble to the Legislature, attempting to boot an adversary on the authority's board of directors through a piece of legislation that he said had nothing to do with his own situation. Colleagues gave Shepherd a tongue lashing for pulling the stunt, then a majority voted the measure down.

Shepherd raised eyebrows again in political circles when he bought a house in March in a tony golf course community outside his Senate district and began sprucing it up with a swimming pool, room addition, balcony and driveway.

The two-story brick house on Stonebridge's Lake Michel Court sits in unincorporated Gretna, well outside the 3rd District. The sale price was $450,000, and he took out a $417,000 mortgage that required him to establish the home as a principal residence within two months and for at least a year thereafter, according to documents filed with the Jefferson Parish clerk of court.

Nevertheless, he registered his candidacy for re-election under a modest brick house on Garden Road in Marrero. A school bus is usually parked on the property just off the West Bank Expressway. Shepherd's father works for the Jefferson Parish public schools as a bus driver.

Neighbors said they've seen Shepherd on and off in Stonebridge. He threw a pool party for friends this summer, said Phil Truxillo, Plaquemines Parish's emergency director, who lives on Lake Kristin Drive a few blocks away.

Tom Gaudry Jr., a Gretna lawyer who lives about a block away, said he figured Shepherd could still manage to conform to the state's loose domicile requirements for political candidates.

The rules give opponents a short window to challenge a candidate's residency after the qualifying period. Barney did not challenge Shepherd's residency.

"We've all wondered if this is going to be his new residence or is he maintaining his old residence?" Gaudry said.

Shepherd didn't respond to a request for an interview about the house.

No resignation likely

In his campaign for his first full Senate term this fall, Shepherd kept a fairly low profile.

He stuck with billboard advertisements and mailed fliers, while Barney, who registered to take him on again, aired television commercials criticizing Shepherd for alleged ethical lapses.

In the week following Oliver Thomas' Aug. 13 resignation from the New Orleans City Council upon his guilty plea to public corruption charges, word spread like wildfire through political circles that federal investigators also were looking at Shepherd.

Shepherd repeatedly denied that he had ever been contacted by investigators for questioning or received a subpoena to testify before a grand jury. He said from Texas, where he was serving an occasional stint for the Army Reserves, that he knew nothing of the rumors and didn't have a lawyer.

The senator acknowledged last week, however, that two federal investigators visited his home "several months ago" as part of a corruption probe, a scene that conflicts with his statements at the time that talk of his interaction with investigators contained no grain of truth.

During the campaign, Barney stayed away from the rampant speculation about the government investigation. He said he's not sure it would have changed the outcome of the election.

Now he hopes the matter doesn't prevent the district from receiving adequate representation in Baton Rouge.

"People deserve a swift resolution to it," Barney said. "Sen. Shepherd deserves to rebut his case, and until then we'll just defer to the Justice Department and see how events continue to unfold."

Roberts predicted that, like Jefferson, Shepherd isn't likely to resign his seat if indicted while in office.

Coulon said the politician who has pulled off such a quick ascent wouldn't let the investigation deter him from representing the district.

"Certainly we can't afford not to have representation in that district, and Derrick has every intention of fulfilling that representation until something happens," he said.

As Shepherd's star was still rising, politicos considered him determined enough to achieve whatever he wanted.

"He can be around for as long as he chooses to," Lee said in July 2006 before the congressional race, "and as long as he chooses to represent the people fairly and ethically."

Meghan Gordon can be reached at mgordon@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3785.